Defrosting Food Properly

Many cooks employ the economical advantages of buying in bulk.

Whether you are cooking for a restaurant full of people or just your family, you need to know how to properly freeze and defrost your foods in order for even previously frozen foods to taste their best.

Unfortunately, many people simply take the frozen food and pop it right in the saucepan or oven. While this might be appropriate for some things, it can dramatically affect the taste of your food and can also be hazardous to your health!

If you take the extra time to plan your meals ahead, you will get great tasting foods that only you will know have been frozen. So, if you want to have pork chops on Monday night, remember to take them out of the freezer in the morning and let them defrost in the fridge. By the time you get home from work, they’ll be ready too cook. It is important to defrost things thoroughly as this will give you the best chance to be sure the food is fully cooked.

Food that is not properly defrosted will not cook properly as the middle will still be frozen leaving you with either raw middles or burnt edges. As you know, cooking surfaces cook from the outside in so if you take the food right out of your freezer and pop it into the saucepan you are really running a risk of undercooking your food in the middle which can lead to diseases from bacteria - not to mention yucky tasting food.

Even with meals that are meatless like macaroni and cheese you will want to allow for some defrosting time. This extra step will insure your food cooks evenly and tastes its best.

Although the safest method of defrosting food is to put it in the fridge for around 8 hours, there are times when this is just not practical. In this case you can thaw your food at room temperature but you must be very diligent about making sure the food does not sit on the counter past the defrosting point. Doing so will only invite bacteria. Also, be sure to place your meats in a container for defrosting so the juices do not run on the counter and contaminate your other food.